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Vision

To help transition Japan to a peace promoting post-carbon country while enjoying every step of the process.僕のビジョンは、祖国日本で、平和文化を育みポストカーボン（Post-Carbon) 社会を促進してゆく事です。化石燃料や原子力に頼らず、他国の資源を取らない、自給自足な国へのトランジションを実現させてゆきたいです。

Friday, June 29, 2012

Thats right. 40 years of brainwashed ultra-expensive and dangerous stupidity.

日本語は下だよ〜ん。

Below are pictures and a video from yesterdays demonstration against nuclear restarts planned for July 1st. It was a lot of Japanese on the streets!!! Really cool to see that many people on the streets of Tokyo demanding a stop to restarts, corruption, and phony democracy. Its really beautiful. I think the organizers claimed that 150,000 ~ 200,000 people came to protest.

One writer chartered a helicopter to take photos of the event, especially since the lamestream news rarely report on the unprecedented citizen movement since probably the 60s (Anpo). The question is how will this materialize into a force that can deconstruct the current political system that serves corporate interests and the OB club.

The man is complaining about how TEPCO representatives are not answering their questions about the accident and restarts. But, whats really interesting is the black suited men. They awkwardly bend low, stick an arm out, and do mini-bows or as I like to call them, air head butts. Japanese are so weird. These men are brothers and are actually all hunchbacks from rice farming, the extended arms with open palms is to distract him with weird gestures, and the bows are threats.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Below are scenes from my recent Tokyo Urban Permaculture workshops that I did in Harajuku, Tokyo. Harajuku is the youth fashion center of Japan and it is quite fascinating to people watch. It is bizarre ultra-consumer culture at its finest. If you google harajuku fashion you might get what I mean.

Both the workshops featured below were in "alternative" stores selling fashion. The first store, Kagure, has a natural and craftsman theme, the second, Beams, is a collectors toy and pop art store that is part of one of the biggest "conscious" fashion corporation. The Beams event was a hosted by a really cool alternative magazine in Japan called Spectator. They really push the edge of Japanese taboo subjects like drugs, justice system, consumer culture, etc.

I don't really explain much about permaculture. Instead, I focus on having fun, playing, sharing, moving, presenting about creative ways to transform environment and culture, and community-building. The bulk of the presentation is about City Repair. I've been pretty liberal about how I use the term "permaculture", and I think more about the permaculture "movement" rather than the strict design methodology; The permanent culture side or what I refer to as social permaculture.

One of the challenges in Japan is that people who have heard of permaculture either think of herb spirals, a new type of farming, or about a utopian life on a good sized piece of property outside the city, thereby reducing it to a herb spiral cult or the new back-to-the-land movement. So, what about urban population and what about designing invisible structures that govern us? In some ways I'm attempting to redefine permaculture in Japan, while also using it as a way to brand my activism.

At the end of the workshops, I invite everybody to say at least one word to me before leaving, and support me with a donation if they want to (no suggested donation so I get anywhere from 0 ~ 3000 yen). If its up to me, I end with a potluck which is the highlight. People really cook amazing things, and that is where people really start to organically mingle, and I can focus on eating!

As you can tell from the pictures, I make an effort to look like a weird cult leader.

Here are some fun and easy to understand videos about capitalism and money. I'm not exactly sure how accurately these videos reflect reality, and the impacts it has on viewers (ie stimulate people to take effective action), but I like them and they definitely have an influence on my world view.
(it also makes for an easy blog entry:)

I've been reading about Marx, Gramsci, Transition Towns, ecopedagogy, etc. trying to figure out what would be a meaningful and fun research topic for the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science at University of Tokyo. It's a challenge since the key word here is "science" and the faculty are almost all Japanese natural science researchers. Hence, they seem to like numbers (quantitative data) and generally encourage pro-business pro-capitalism research. (Big) business, innovation, and technology for a sustainable future! But, something seems wrong here. Somehow I probably have to make a solid case using academic discourse that is easy for them to understand and accept. hmmmmm....

Related to that, I've been wondering about what the socio-political implications of permaculture are? It seems like permaculture is largely a movement away from politics and mainstream society, although City Repair, liberation permaculture, and maybe the students who were awarded by Obama for permaculture activities recently, seem like a new wave of a more socio-politically engaged group of permies. What does permaculture have to offer in terms of transforming the larger oppressive systems that dominate us? Or is that beyond the scope of permaculture?

Just some thoughts.
Ok, so here are the videos.

First off, The Impossible Hamster by the New Economics Foundation (NEF).
If capitalism was a hamster....cute!!!

Who Killed Economic Growth by the Post Carbon Institute (PCI). Another well-made video explaining the impossibility of economic growth through a simplified history of capitalism and fossil fuels. Richard Heinberg who is the narrator of the video recently published a books called "The End of Growth".

Finally, or else I'll never get anything done, the Crisis of Capitalism by the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (RSA). This video features a graphic facilitator animating a talk by David Harvey. Harvey summarizes various theories by others on why our economy is in crisis, then presents his own Marxist analysis and what we should do to change things.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

A visit to Dion and Asako's "living permaculture" site in Izu peninsula.

A great example of wild permaculture in Japan that reminded me of the Bullocks in many ways. I imagine that the Bullocks started off wilder than the pictures below, but now they are living in a much more "civilized" (Wifi, Solar systems, trucks, space crafts...) fashion.

Personally, I like the wilder side and the benefits are many. Cheap, low dependence on capitalism, and simple. Living with "just enough"(ware tada taru wo shiru) in natures abundance. But, I do have an addiction to the internet. Thats a tricky one.

What a cool train station.
Part of the platform is gravel, and they have hedges growing.
I would plant kumquat or pineapple guava here.
In Transition 2.0 showed some Britons growing food on platforms,
why not make them productive spaces.
In Tokyo we just have shops and high tech vending machines.
This station is also un(wo)manned.

無人改札を出てすぐに雨水を活用した小池。

素敵！駅沿いのオアシス。

ここから村に降りて、山道を１５分くらい登る。

Right outside the wicket is a little rainwater pond oasis.

Quite beautiful.

From here we walk up a mountain trail fro 15 minutes.

ディオンが作った竹のデッキ。

おもてなしとして、夏みかん（多分）の山盛りと

洞窟水にハーブを入れた美味しいカクテルが用意されていた。

We gather around a bamboo deck that Dion and his brother? made.

They have a bunch of citrus (Summer mikan or Amanatsu) ready,

and "cave" water with tasty herbs.

自生ワイルドサラダ。

スイバ、蕗、イタドリ、芹、蛇苺、など。

Dion explains about how there is food everywhere.

Here we see sorrel, fuki, knotweed, Japanese parsley, wild-strawberry, etc.

All are edible and grow wild.

ディオンが植えたヤコン。

これがまたおいしいんじゃよ。

A small patch of yacon.

mmmmm....yacon.

In warmer areas of Japan you can grow avocados,

white zapote, papaya, mangos, etc.

柳（バスケット用）の苗どころ。

段ボールマルチが柳の挿し木を守っている。

このまま育てて伸びては切って、

バスケットの材料として活用する。

Basket willow nursery with lazy cardboard mulch.

The cardboard mulch keeps weeds from growing around the willow.

Dion explained that they will coppice the willows regularly

and use the young shoots for weaving.

At the Bullocks we buried the ends of the cardboard,

then covered the board with soil and mulch.

It looks much better that way and makes it easier to deal with "runner" weeds.

Dion explained that they grow their favas in weeds to prevent animals from eating it all.

The favas are in the middle of the picture.

雑草の中に植えられた大豆。

さすがパーマカルチャーオタク。

Soy beans planted amidst weeds.

The milk cartons help indicate where they are.

熱心にメモを取る日本のパーミー達。

小道から逸れると大事な植物を

踏んでしまうかもしれない。

Japanese permies seriously taking notes.

We needed to stay on the paths since it's hard to tell where plants are planted.

A common challenge between plant nerd permies and their "guests".

自然からの学び、

インスピレーション。

それがパーマカルチャー生活。

Nature's patterns.

A source of inspiration for living permaculture.

キーウィーがすでに生えている木を登る。

食べ物の森デザインでは高さを活用する事も重要。

ここもダンボールマルチ。

ブロックスでは見た目を美しくするために、

土と枯れ葉などで被せて自然な感じを演出する。

Kiwi are trained up established trees to make use of vertical space.

The cardboard helps to keep down weeds and demarcate where the kiwi is growing.

薬草ガーデン。

レモンバーム、コンフリー、ボリジ、ドンクワイ

チコリー、山芋など。

コンフリーはカリウムなどを地中から収集すると言われている。

近くに生えているザクロはカリウム好きなので、

そんなギルド関係も工夫されている。

Medicine and herb garden

Lemon balm, comfrey, borage, donquai, chicory, yamaimo, etc.

Dion explains that comfrey is a "dynamic accumulator",

and collects potassium.

He planted it near pommegranate which is a heavy potassium feeder.

家の近く（ゾーン２）にコーン畑。

獣害にやられやすいコーンを見守りやすい所に配置している。

水や栄養を多く必要とするので、

生活排水がコーン畑に流れるようにしてある。

Corn is planted near the house (zone 2),

so that they can keep a close eye on them as they are a popular target for creatures.

The gray water system also keeps the corn fed and well-watered.

生活排水システム。

超シンプル！

配水管は砂利のピットに流れ込むようになっている。

そうするとすぐに浸透して分散していく。

生活排水に流す物を気をつければ、

こんなシンプルな生活排水システムで十分。

中米ではこのような生活排水システムの

周りにバナナが良く植われている。

Gray water system

Super simple!

Reminds me of Central America where rural folks just had pipes from their sink drain right outside their homes into a banana plantation. Its all you really need to do. Dion explains that if you are careful about what you put in your drain, then simple systems like these suffice. I think he dug out a one meter trench and filled it with gravel so the water would sink quickly and disperse. You do not want standing water that is full of nutrients. It might become a disease/pathogen, smell, bug, creature vector.

栗やクヌギで椎茸も育てている。

Shiitake logs made from kuri and oak.

苗どころ。

パーミーにとっては苗どころは必需！

植物はただでどんどん増やせる。

nursery

An important element of any permie site.

Unlike money, plants just keep increasing.

洞窟からの湧水？

（浸み水が洞窟の天井から落ちて溜っている）

何か魅力的。

ポンプは使わず重力のみで家まで引いている。

Cave water

The water seeps through the cracks in the bedrock

and drips down from the roof of the cave into the pool below.

The pump is not used and gravity feeds the water to their home.

畑

イノシシが自由に通れるようにデザインされているが、

芋類はフェンスでかこっている。

日当りと土が良い土地が限られているので、

岩の上に枝、葉、雑草を積み上げてそこに芋を植えている。

畑は自然農風。

Garden

Wild bores and monkeys are major challenges for farmers in Japan.

Dion explained that they made it easy for the wild bores to pass through their property.

That is why there is very little fencing.

The theory is that the bores won't linger and will just keep going down the mountain side.

Above link are pictures from the same trip taken by a Vipassana and natural farming friend, Yoshimi Arai.

＜自分の話＞
いつしか百姓から都会型活動家／院生に変身してしまった。

こんな素敵な田舎の記事を書きながら聴いている曲は、

ポップダンストップ２０のミックス。

Pitbull, Avicii, Britney Spears, Taio Cruzとか。

最低な歌詞だと思いながら体はノリノリ。

ブロックスにいたときも大自然の中、
同じ様な曲を聴きながらストリートダンスしたり、
ブログ書いていた。

Well, so here I am listening to the top 20 hits of pop dance music,moving my body to the beat as I feel slightly disgusted by the lyrics,writing a blog entry about living permaculture. Even at the Bullocks, I used to listen to Missy Elliot, Justin Timberlake, Pitbull, Avicii, Britney Spears, Taio Cruz, etc. and practiced my street dance moves. Who would've guessed.

Dear Friends,The Japanese Prime Minister Noda has announced his decision to orderthe restart two nuclear reactors in the town of Ohi in the prefectureof Fukui in Western Japan. He also claimed that nuclear energy willremain an important source of energy for Japan also in the future,thereby reconfirming Japans nuclear energy policy.

Despite all our efforts, despite the strong resistance in the region ofWestern Japan surrounding Ohi, and despite the fact that a majority ofthe Japanese people is against nuclear power, the Japanese governmentis bowing to pressures of the nuclear lobby in Japan. We have triedhard on our own, but now we believe that coordinated internationalpressure on the Japan government is essential to bring on real andsubstantial change. We believe that the Japanese government and theJapanese public will react very sensitively to international pressure,so we wish to ask you for your support to initiate and coordinateinternational protest against the Japanese government.

Specifically we suggest the following action within the following days(preferably on Wednesday to Friday this week / June 13~15, 2012):

1. Please assemble in front of the Japanese embassies in your capitalto voice your protest against the decision and policy of Prime MinisterNoda

2. Please try to submit a letter of protest -addressed to PrimeMinister Noda- to the Japanese Ambassador in your country and requestthe Japanese Ambassador to forward this letter of protest to theJapanese Prime Minister

3. Please try to seek coverage of this action by your local andinternational media, especially Japanese media, as well as on theInternet

4. Please give us notice about your planned action, so we can organizea press event in Japan to reinforce your message to the Japanesegovernment.

Please note that we wish these protests to be absolutely civil andpeaceful, and to fully observe the sovereign rights of the Japaneseembassies abroad.

A moving video of Fukushima and other women making a plea to the government,

and staging a die-in.

６月７日の福島の女たちの官邸申し入れ、

ダイイン動画に英語のサブタイトルがつきました。

On June 7, 2012, about 70 women including 10 women from Fukushima did a "die-in" in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence to protest against the restart of Ooi Nuclear Power Plant. Before the die-in, 10 Fukushima women visited the Cabinet Office and met with officials to submit a letter of requests addressed to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

Welcome!

ようこそ！

You have arrived to a bilingual blog about sustainability, permaculture, and peace activism. Yeah! Please leave a comment if you feel inspired.Thanks for visiting and I hope you spread the seeds:) *the ratio of English to Japanese changes unexpectedly so if there is a lot of strange foreign characters, check out older articles might have the more familiar alphabet.

About Me

A "half", as they call us in Japan, who grew up in metropolis and rural Japan, Hawaii, Santa Cruz CA, Central America, and now Orcas Island WA. Taking a stroll through the path of permaculture, mindfulness, and love. Looking for more like-minded people in Japan or people interested in transforming Japan...
百姓／平和活動家／パーマカルチャー・デザイナーのヒヨコです。ブロックス・パーマカルチャー・ホームステッド（ワシントン州のオーカス島）で弟子入り生活をしていましたが、今は東京で平和と愛を育む活動をしています。先生、仲間、プロジェクト、土地を捜しています！